CLAIM
Two different videos are being circulated on social media with the claim that under the Modi government, atrocities are being committed against the Dalit community and that they are being burnt alive. While one video shows a group of people beating a man who is lying on the ground, the other one shows a man being set on fire.
VIDEO 1
TRUE OR FALSE?
While it’s true that the incident did happen in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur, the man being beaten in the video is not a Dalit, rather he belongs to the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. Moreover, he was not burnt alive.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We did a frame-to-frame analysis using InVID, a video verification tool, and then reverse-searched each frame on Google. This led us to an article published by Tamil news organisation Puthiya Thalaimurai TV.
As per the report, the incident took place in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur, when a clash broke out in Anantapur Arts College, between a group of people and the person who is being attacked in the video. He has been identified as Sivaiah.
We also found an ANI news report on the same incident that was published on 29 June. It stated that Sivaiah, after being beaten, fell unconscious and went into coma.
B Bala Maddileti, inspector of police, Anantapur III Town confirmed to The Quint that the incident did take place and Sivaiah is not a Dalit, rather he belongs to the OBC category. Also, he was not burnt alive.
“The man who is being beaten is not a student of that arts college. Even the group of people who attacked him, do not belong to that college. Sivaiah would often go and meet a girl whom he fell in love with. The group attacked Sivaiah over his love affair. Consequently, five people were arrested.”B Bala Maddileti, inspector of police, Anantapur III Town
VIDEO 2
This Man Too Is Not a Dalit
Using keywords ‘self immolation man video,’ we found an article published by Times Now on 7 July, titled as ‘Rajasthan: Man immolates self while protesting anti-encroachment drive; condition critical.’
The article mentioned that the man seen in the video is 40-year-old Baburao Saini who set himself on fire in Gudha village in Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan. Reportedly, this was his way of protesting against the anti-encroachment drive being carried out by forest officials.
Times Now further reported that Saini had been living in Gudha village since many years. The land on which he was living, now fell under the government after a new survey was conducted.
Gaurav Yadav, superintendent of police, Jhunjhunu district confirmed to The Quint that he is not a Dalit, rather he is from the Mali community.
“Saini was living on a government property. Hence, forest officers had gone there to carry out an anti encroachment drive. On seeing the officers, he put himself on fire. He is no more.”Gaurav Yadav, superintendent of police, Jhunjhunu district
Cases were registered from both the forest officers and Saini’s family members. While forest officers had alleged that stones were pelted at them and the family members did not let them perform their duty, Saini’s kins blamed the forest officers for Saini putting himself on fire.
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